Electric fixture



Nov. 17, 1936. F. J. HINES 2,060,990

ELECTRI C FIXTURE Filed Sept 5, 1951 7gwwntob e5 10 6 11 2 Francis J. Hi

Patented Nov. 17, 1936 ELECTRIC FIXTURE Francis J. Hines, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Hines Electrical Specialties, Inc.,- a corporation of New York Application September 3, 1931, Serial No. 560,965

Claims.

My invention relates particularly to devices intended to be used in outlet or wall boxes for supporting electric fixtures.

One object of the invention is to provide means 5 for facilitating the support of wall brackets for electric lighting and other purposes.

A special object is to provide means to facilitate the installation of such supports in outlet boxes.

Another object is to provide means for permitting the connection of a plurality of conductors to the same terminals without soldering or the provision of additional connecting devices.

In carrying out the invention I provide an insulating support and a strap for mounting the support in an outlet box and in turn supporting a bracket or other device. The body of the insulating support carries two bus bars, one on each side, each bus bar being provided with a main line terminal and a branch terminal. Each of these terminals preferably carries a clamping plate held by a single screw and each clamping plate is positioned so as to prevent its rotation. Each clamping plate and terminal is adapted to permit the connection of two or more wires. Preferably the bus bars are twisted so that the terminals face toward the sides at one end and toward the front at the other end, thus facilitating the attachment of wires in two diiferent planes.

Fig. l is a front view of one form of device embodying my invention, parts being broken away to reveal the construction in the rear.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2a is a perspective view of one of the bus bars.

Fig. 3 is a front view showing a modified form of construction.

Fig. 4. is a transverse sectional view on the plane of the line l4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View showing the bus bar of the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 with one of the clamping plates and its screw detached.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the insulating cover plate shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is an edge view of the supporting strap of Fig. 3 together with a fixture tube.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of another modification.

The strap I0 is provided with an interiorly threaded portion 1 I for the connection of abracket, conduit or other device. This strap lil may have side bars l2 with slotted ears [3 by means of which it may be secured in an ordinary outlet box (not shown).

The insulating body of the fixture is preferably formed of two parts, the main part I i formed, for instance, of molded insulation and a top or cover part l5 which may be formed of sheet insulation These two parts are adapted to be se- The insulating body is provided with a recess l9 at one side and another recess Zll in the face of the body. This bus bar may be positioned in the body, for instance, by having one end located in the slot 2! and the other end held to the body by means of the rivet 22 or rivet 25, the rear ends of these rivets being molded in place in the body.

The cover plate l5 overlies the slot 2! and holds 7 the end of the bus bar in place.

Clamp plates such as 25 and 26 are mounted on opposite ends of the bus bars and held in place by clamp screws 21 and 28. These clamp plates are held from rotation by means of bent-over ears such as 29 and 30 formed integrally with the terminal ends of the bus bar and bent over alongside the edges of the clamp plates. These clamp plates are also preferably positioned by shoulders such as 3i and 32 which are integral portions of the insulating body arranged alongside the edges of the clamp plates and the terminal plates. The terminal plates may be provided with longitudinal ribs such as 33 and 34 to provide efiicient means for gripping the ends of the conductors which are inserted between the terminal ends of the bus bars and the respective clamp plates.

Clamp screws 2! are intended to be screwed into a terminal end [8 of a bus bar and the body of the insulation is recessed from the front at 35 to allow for the inner end of the screw. Screw 28 may be screwed through the clamp plate 26 and through the terminal end ll into the eyelet or rivet 23.

These binding screws and terminal plates are so arranged in the recesses in the insulating body as to facilitate wiring.

For instance, the recess l9 opens toward the rear and the main conductors are adapted to be drawn outwardly and have their ends clamped beneath the plates. 25.

After the block has been mounted in the outlet ing the into the recess 20 from clamp plates 26.

wires of the bracket or other fixture device the front and beneath the By this arrangement it will be seen that the installation and attachment or disconnection of fixtures is facilitated. This construction also makes it possible to extend wires from the main terminal plates to the fixtures by simply loosening the screws 21 and attaching additional wires beneath the clamp plates 25. Similarly additional branch circuits can be tapped off by inserting additional wires beneath the clamp plates 26.

The cover plate I5 is preferably made wide enough to cover the edges of the bus bar ends I8 and may also cover the edges of the clamp plates 25 and any other parts which it may be desired to protect.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 to 7, strap IDI is mounted on the front instead of on the back. The screw-threaded portion III projects rearwardly in this case and is adapted to support a tube, nipple or other form of bracket connection H2.

The insulating portion of this form of device consists of a body MI and a cover plate I5I. These parts are secured together by rivets such as NH and I62. The latter rivets I52 also secure the strap IIII to the insulating portions of the device. The bus bar has its ends III and I8I in the same plane and held in slots 2 I in the body portion beneath the insulating cover. The edges of the cover preferably protect the front edges of the bus bars as well as the clamp plates 25I and 26I. The cover plate II is cut back at I52 to permit more convenient access to the clamp plate 26I for the attachment of the fixture wires, while the clamp plate 25I is protected and positioned by the flange I53 of the cover plate so that the ends of the line wires which come in from the rear will be covered and guarded.

Fig. 3 shows the pockets 35 similar to those previously described which allow for the ends of the clamp screws 2'. An additional clamp screw I02 may be provided if desired for grounding the strap as is customary in devices of this kind.

In both forms of device above described it will be seen that there is a central aperture 40 through the insulating body which permits adjustment of the nipple or fixture tube I I2 into or through the body so as not to limit the length of the nipple which can be used.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the insulating body may be provided with projecting flange I42 to guard the ends of the wires which are clamped to the bus bars.

The ribs 33I serve to coact with grooved portions 252 of the clamp plates so as to assist in positioning the clamp plates and preventing them from rotating. Additional means of securing the wires may be provided as shown in Fig. 5 where lugs such as I72 are struck outwardly from the bus bar and adapted to project through perforations such as 253 in the clamp plate. This lug interlocks with the perforation and prevents the clamp plate from rotating, and it also provides a convenient means for winding or hooking an end of the conductor which is to be clamped between the plate 25I and the adjacent end of the bus bar.

In the form shown in Fig. 8 the strap I03 is made wide enough to extend over the ends III and NH of the bus bars although it is insulated from the bus bars by the cover strip I5I. The strap thus reinforces the insulating layer to hold the bus bars in place. The form shown in Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive is specifically claimed in divisional application Serial Number 72,023, filed April 1, 1936.

I claim:

1. An electric fixture comprising an insulating body having an attaching lug at each end, a twisted bus bar secured to said body on each side of the center, each bus bar having one end facing toward the front of the body andits opposite end facing away from one side of the body, and a binding screw coacting with each end of each bus bar whereby wires from the rear can be secured to the ends which face away from the sides of the body and wires from the front can be secured to the ends which face toward the front of the body.

2. A fixture support comprising an insulating body having recesses in the opposite side faces communicating with recesses in the front face, means to support a fixture from the front face, bus bars formed of strips, each bar having one of its ends mounted in one of said side recesses facing away from the sides of the body and its other end in one of said front recesses facing toward the front of said body, each bus bar having a binding screw in each exposed end face, and a supporting strap secured to the insulating body and having a projecting lug at each end.

3. A fixture support comprising an insulating body having a central recess, recesses in the opposite side faces and in the front face, a bus bar secured to each side of the body, one end of each bus bar positioned in one of the side recesses and its other end in one of the front recesses, a'binding screw coacting with each end of each bus bar, the screw heads in the side recesses facing away from the sides of said body, the screw heads in the front recesses facing toward the front of said body, a supporting strap secured to said insulating body and having lugs projecting beyond the ends of the body, and a bracket-supporting socket carried by the center of the strap and positioned in the central recess.

4. A fixture device comprising a generally elongated insulating block, a supporting strap extending beyond the ends of the block for securing the same in a wall receptacle, a bus bar of strip mate rial extending longitudinally of the block and secured to each side thereof independently of the strap, a binding screw in one end of each bus bar whereby a circuit wire extending from the rear may be connected to one end of each bus bar when the device is installed in the Wall receptacle, a binding screw in the opposite end of each bus bar whereby a wire from the front may be connected directly to the opposite end of each bus bar without disturbing the circuit wire connections, and a cover plate of insulating material holding the bus bars in position in said block, said cover plate being shaped to provide access for the wires Erhich come from the front to one end of said bus ars.

5. A fixture device comprising a generally elongated insulating block, a supporting strap extending beyond the ends of the block for scouring the same in a wall receptacle, a bus bar of strip material extending longitudinally of the block and secured to each side thereof independently of the strap, a binding screw in one end of each bus bar whereby a circuit wire extending from the rear may be connected to one end of each bus bar when the device is installed in the wall receptacle, a binding screw in the opposite end of each bus bar whereby a wire from the front may be connected directly to the opposite end of each bus bar without disturbing the circuit wire connections, and a cover plate of insulating material holding the bus bars in position in said block, said cover plate being shaped to provide access for the wires which come from the front to one end of said bus bars, the portion of the cover plate adjacent the binding screws for the wires coming from the rear being wider than the portion of the cover plate adjacent the binding screws for the wires coming from the front, whereby the cover plate may protect the ends of the bus bars and wires coming from the rear.

FRANCIS J. I-IINES. 

